Artificial Lifeforms

Introduction

With computers and machinery always becoming more complex
and more powerful, it is not far-fetched to assume that they may become
self-aware and maybe sentient. This would ultimately require to grant them a status of
lifeforms. But where do we have to draw a line? Where does Star Trek draw the
line?

Analysis

TOS

Although computers were commonplace and androids showed up as early as in the first season (TOS: "What are Little
Girls Made of?"), Star Trek needed some time to discover the storytelling
potential of a debate whether an android or another artificial intelligence should be acknowledged as a lifeform or
not. The computer of the Enterprise was depicted as just a tool that controlled
the systems of the ship, that served to access databanks and to perform
scientific calculations. Even highly advanced alien androids, robots and computers in TOS were commonly just regarded as
machines. No one truly posed
the question whether they should be classified as sentient or ultimately as
lifeforms. The word "sentient" was hardly ever spoken out up during
TOS anyway.

While the crew hunted down strange but supposedly "natural" lifeforms relentlessly more than
once, such as in "Operation - Annihilate!", "Obsession" or
"The Immunity Syndrome", there are other occasions on which sentient
beings were saved in the spirit of "exploring strange new life",
such as in "The Devil in the Dark" or "Metamorphosis".
A machine, on the other hand, was at most conceded the attribute of being
intelligent at the time of TOS. Although there was never a hint that androids
existed in the Federation or in Starfleet, the impression is that anyone like
Data would have been denied their rights of individuality in the 23rd century.
Even more drastically, androids and machines routinely had to be destroyed or "discussed to death", like it happened
with Landru in "Return of the Archons", the war simulation computer in
"A Taste of Armageddon", the planet killer in "The Doomsday
Machine", Nomad in "The
Changeling", Vaal in "The Apple", the androids in "I,
Mudd" or M-5 in "The Ultimate Computer". No one really felt sorry about
the loss. On the contrary, their obvious intelligence was rated as dangerous for
humanity.
Much like with genetically enhanced humans, there was
something intrinsically
villainous about autonomous computers and androids. They were either programmed to be
"evil" or
they ran out of control because of accidents, giving themselves the goal to rule over biological
lifeforms or to exterminate them like in TOS:
"What are Little Girls Made of?" or "I,
Mudd". And even the few advanced machines that functioned as intended had
something eerie about them, such as M-4 from TOS: "Requiem for Methuselah"
(which may have to do with the fact that the prop was a re-use of Nomad from
"The Changeling").

Only
Rayna, the female android in TOS:
"Requiem for Methuselah", marks a notable exception. She was the first
artificial lifeform in Star Trek to clearly exhibit not only sentience but obviously
feelings too. And it was the first time that this was acknowledged by the ship's
crew, especially considering that Kirk fell in love with her. Rayna eventually
"died" when she could not cope with her conflicting feelings (for Kirk
and for Flint). While this outcome is still reminiscent of the computers that
Kirk argued to death because they couldn't process contradictory commands or
information, Rayna's tragic end also bears traits of more or less illogical
self-destructive tendencies of humans, of the kind that machines are just not supposed to
exhibit. But Rayna's existence probably remained isolated anyway, because Flint
died soon afterwards and may not have built other androids of her kind.

Another
example of an artificial lifeform that is shown in a positive light is V'ger
from "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", even though V'ger destroys
anything in its flight path (apparently not knowing what killing a lifeform
actually means in an ethical sense). In any case V'ger's quest for its creator
is one more characteristic that is typical of lifeforms, not of machines.

TNG and beyond

The turning point in the question of the rights of
artificial lifeforms in Star Trek was Data. It was obvious from the first episode that he was
assumed to be intelligent and probably sentient, although he himself had to
admit that he was unable to experience emotions. He usually missed the point of
fundamental human(oid) feelings and also of humor, like in his fruitless efforts
to be funny (TNG: "Unnatural Selection"). Still, he was a fully
privileged graduate of Starfleet Academy, not an honorary Lt. Commander, as
Riker suspected in TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint". Data must have been
admitted to Starfleet Academy like any other cadet, and this would necessarily
require that he was acknowledged as a sentient being already back then -- unless
Starfleet would want an army of mindless robots instead of (self-)responsible
officers.

In light of Data's career it is odd why in TNG: "The Measure of a Man"
Commander Maddox could simply demand Data to be disassembled because, as he
claimed, Data was Starfleet's property. Essentially the same question showed up
when Admiral Haftel demanded Lal's extradition with much the same justification in
TNG: "The Offspring". On a related note, even if Data was not
regarded as a person but as a thing, how could Starfleet claim ownership on him,
when he legally belonged to Dr. Noonien Soong? It is only possible that some
later jurisdiction may have been used to override Data's entry into Starfleet. In any case, it
should have been decided much earlier than after years in Starfleet whether he
was alive or not. And Data should have made sure that no one could claim
ownership on Lal before building the android.

The (preliminary) approval that Data is a sentient lifeform may have
facilitated and accelerated the process of recognizing the rights of other
artificial lifeforms, such as the nanites in TNG: "Evolution" and the
Exocomps in TNG: "The Quality of Life" (although in these two cases
there are no legal proceedings that we know of). Voyager's EMH too was struggling for acceptance
in the first season of the series, until he was finally granted the right to
decide for himself when to go offline. Much like Data in "The Measure of a
Man", the EMH set a precedence for holograms to be recognized as
individuals with individual rights in VOY: "Author,
Author". And while I think the idea of medical holograms working in a mine
as seen in "Author, Author" should be taken with a grain of salt, acknowledging the rights of new lifeforms is an ongoing process in
the Federation, and there is no foreseeable end to it.

Furthermore, in some
cases it may have severe consequences for human beings if they had to respect
the rights of evolving artificial life, possibly at the expense of their
security or even their own lives. The naite incident in TNG: "Evolution" almost turned into
a disaster, and we may only speculate what would have happened if the
Enterprise-D had chosen a less moderate way to procreate in TNG:
"Emergence". Like already V'ger, the evolving artificial intelligences
of TNG seem to have forgotten or to ignore the respect for biological lifeforms,
although something like "ethical subroutines" must have belonged to
their original programming.

Even though shown in an overall positive light this
time (as "evolution" is unequivocally deemed a worthwhile process in Trek),
there is still something incalculable about artificial life, like a remainder of
the villainous machines of TOS. Even Data himself occasionally runs amuck,
notably in "Brothers" and in "Insurrection". While we should not forget that human beings are
overall much more "fault-prone", the severity of machine faults is
much higher, especially when fail-safe mechanisms fail or are overridden. But
seeing that no one would generally mistrust holodecks either, although these fail quite
often (actually much too often to be still considered safe), the possible fear of
androids and other artificial lifeforms should not be a reason for the
Federation to impede their development.

Conclusion

Androids, computers and other intelligent machines were predominantly
seen as pieces technology in the 1960s and not so much as possible sentient beings. If
they exhibited characteristics of human beings in the time of TOS, it almost
customarily endangered the human crew, which became a cliché of TOS. But their
possibly villainous behavior was not condemned because the androids or other
machines acted just within the boundaries of their programming. This changed
with Data. Since the remarkable episode "The Measure of a Man" there
is an ongoing trend to recognize the rights not only of androids but also of
other artificial lifeforms such as holograms. While technology runs out of
control just as frequently as in TOS, in the 24th century the question whether
androids and machines can surpass their original programming is in the focus of
interest.

Overall the 24th century seems to be somewhat more
open-minded about artificial lifeforms. However, this may be due to the
real-world development, in which today's computers are far more advanced than
anyone could have imagined in the 1960s. T he question whether
computers may become sentient has become a more interesting science fiction issue
than it was at the time of TOS.